Missile Defense Milestone

The Wall Street Journal Asia

Updated April 8, 2008 12:01 a.m. ET

At their joint news conference in the Black Sea town of Sochi Sunday, President Bush and Vladimir Putin talked agreeably about U.S. plans to provide a missile defense for Europe and the prospect of U.S.-Russian cooperation even as they acknowledged differences. Earlier in the week, NATO issued a communique endorsing the planned shield. Somewhere the Gipper is smiling.

Twenty-five years after his famous "Star Wars" speech, Ronald Reagan's vision of a defensive shield against ballistic missiles is fast becoming a...